January Real Construction Value Put in Place Increases 6.0%

According to the Census Bureau, the value of construction put in placewas $60,835 (millions of real dollars). This was an increase of 6.0% from January 2012. On average, the month-over-month rate of change is 0.0%, believe it or not. This is because the value put in place typically grows at a slow rate for long periods of times but the contractions are deep and relatively short. The annual rate of change was 7.8%, which was the fastest rate of growth since July 1999.

The charts below show that real consumer spending is a good leading indicator for real consutrction spending. The value of construction put in place seems to have raced ahead of consumer spending in recent months. I would expect a decelerating rate of growth in the first half of 2013. If consumer spending continues to improve would see accelerating growth in the value of construction put in place in the second half of 2013.